Ok, so I'm 14 years old and I've been intrigued with the concept of lucid dreaming so i figured I'd give it a go. I started slowly, with reality checks and writing in my dream journal around 10 days ago. I then started trying to convince myself I was going to lucid dream a week ago before I went to sleep with little success. The closest I got was I realized I was in a dream for what seemed like 5 seconds before waking up (very early). Just last night I tried my hardest, I used the WILD technique and woke up 4.5 hours after going to sleep, then tried counting up to 200 like "1, I am lucid dreaming. 2, I am lucid dreaming. 3, I am lucid dreaming. etc." in my head. After I got to 200 I did a reality check, and I was still awake. I then tried to relax my body and focus my consciousness on my "third eye" for about 30 minutes, did a reality check, and I was still awake. I then attempted one last time focusing on relaxing completely and trying to convince myself to go into sleep paralysis with no success again (after around 30 minutes, I also did another reality check). Is there anything I should focus on trying or should I continue trying to do the counting method until it works? Any help is appreciated, thanks!

EDIT: I figured I'd elaborate more on my current attempts. I generally sleep with a big light on (Idk why, if it's off I can't sleep). I don't know if this would affect my lucid dreaming attempts or not, but I hope not . I also have a smaller red light closer to my bed, and for some reason every time I try to focus my consciousness/relax I start sweating or panic. I don't understand why, is there anything I can do to try and improve my chances?

Just keep doing what your doing. Dont stop dream journaling or reality checking just because you cant get a lucid dream. the chances of someone getting a completely lucid dream in there first couple of weeks is slim. Trust me, when I started, i couldn't get one for over a month. Then, after the first one came, and i practiced some more they started coming quicker. Its just a brain exercise. Keep doing it and your brain will start to train itself up. I honestly enjoy semi lucid dreams more than full on lucid dreams. They come a lot faster

Haradaska wrote:Just keep doing what your doing. Dont stop dream journaling or reality checking just because you cant get a lucid dream. the chances of someone getting a completely lucid dream in there first couple of weeks is slim. Trust me, when I started, i couldn't get one for over a month. Then, after the first one came, and i practiced some more they started coming quicker. Its just a brain exercise. Keep doing it and your brain will start to train itself up. I honestly enjoy semi lucid dreams more than full on lucid dreams. They come a lot faster

Ok, thanks, I was thinking of trying FILD but I can't find any apps for iOS that would automatically turn off the alarm, would you happen to know any by chance?

Sorry I dont use any thing to lucid dream all but reality checks and dream journaling. What would you happen to mean by " one that turns off by itself". If you can explain what you mean, I could try to find one myself on my spare time.

Haradaska wrote:Sorry I dont use any thing to lucid dream all but reality checks and dream journaling. What would you happen to mean by " one that turns off by itself". If you can explain what you mean, I could try to find one myself on my spare time.

I was looking for a good alarm app that I can set to go off at 4 am but it automatically turns off after like 30 seconds so I don't have to click "snooze" or anything. For FILD I hear this is usually what people use but I can't seem to find any apps that do this.

The 'problem' you are experiencing (failed FILD WILD attempts) is very common, and one of the mistakes that a lot of beginners make is trying too hard. I tell beginners this all the time, but it's important not to try too hard - and in this case, you may be trying a little too hard. Don't attempt every lucid dreaming techniques you know in one night.

What I found to work (at least for me) was to put down your extreme eagerness to lucid dream for a day. Keep the idea of lucid dreaming in the back of your mind, but don't think about it too much and go to bed like normal, and I recommend you try WBTB instead of WILD. Having bright lights on can disturb your sleep. Try to make your room dark as possible if you can.

The slight panic mode that you enter while you're trying to relax is also quite common. If you really want to attempt WILD, it's recommended you practice meditation so that you know how to relax (yes, this is another skill that people forget to master).

Because you're still quite young (14 years old, aye?), I would say you need to research more into the different types of lucid dreaming. I personally don't concern myself with OBE (Out of Body Experience) or anything with the third eye, and I hope you'll look more into this before attempting blindly.

The 'problem' you are experiencing (failed FILD WILD attempts) is very common, and one of the mistakes that a lot of beginners make is trying too hard. I tell beginners this all the time, but it's important not to try too hard - and in this case, you may be trying a little too hard. Don't attempt every lucid dreaming techniques you know in one night.

What I found to work (at least for me) was to put down your extreme eagerness to lucid dream for a day. Keep the idea of lucid dreaming in the back of your mind, but don't think about it too much and go to bed like normal, and I recommend you try WBTB instead of WILD. Having bright lights on can disturb your sleep. Try to make your room dark as possible if you can.

The slight panic mode that you enter while you're trying to relax is also quite common. If you really want to attempt WILD, it's recommended you practice meditation so that you know how to relax (yes, this is another skill that people forget to master).

Because you're still quite young (14 years old, aye?), I would say you need to research more into the different types of lucid dreaming. I personally don't concern myself with OBE (Out of Body Experience) or anything with the third eye, and I hope you'll look more into this before attempting blindly.

Good luck!

I've been trying to meditate daily for at least 20 minutes each day, so hopefully that helps. I'll try to look into this WBTB thing, and thanks for the help!

Further to what sleepy kitty said, the darkness thing could be an issue. There is an article on the website that talks about the importance of melatonin in sleep regulation and dreams. The balance is struck by the light and dark periods of day and night, so as dark as possible at night is beneficial to dreaming. But I guess you have to balance that against the detrimental stress of sleeping, or not, without the light on.

Further to what sleepy kitty said, the darkness thing could be an issue. There is an article on the website that talks about the importance of melatonin in sleep regulation and dreams. The balance is struck by the light and dark periods of day and night, so as dark as possible at night is beneficial to dreaming. But I guess you have to balance that against the detrimental stress of sleeping, or not, without the light on.

Good luck

Ok, tonight I'm gonna sleep w/o the light on and see how that goes. I am going to try the WBTB tactic and I'll post what happens! (Hopefully I get lucky and it works)!